Did I miss EU customs on a flight from Brazil with stopover in Portugal to Germany?
e.g. Flight was:
Foz do Iguacu (IGU) -> Sao Paulo [on Azul or Gol, don't remember]
Sao Paulo -> Lisboa [on TAP]
Lisboa -> Munich (MUC) [on TAP]
Luggage was checked through from IGU to MUC, in Lisboa I had to pass immigration, but I did not have to go through customs neither had to claim my luggage. In MUC there was no customs present at all, since the flight was Schengen internal, I suppose.
I am on similar flights like once a year and every time I am wondering if I am missing something.
Best Answer
When you left Munich's baggage claim area for the arrivals hall, you should have had to choose between a green channel and a red channel, and possibly a blue channel. That was customs.
The blue channel, if there is one, is for people arriving from inside the EU. Since you were coming from Brazil, you should not have used that channel (despite your stopover in Portugal). The green channel is for people with nothing to declare to customs, and the red channel is for people who do have something to declare.
Customs officers monitor the green channel and may stop people who are using it, but in my experience this happens very rarely indeed.
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